Dumping-wheelbarrow.



PATBNTED PEB. 3, 1908".

E. F. BRAUGHER. DUMPING WHEELBARROW.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6, 1902.

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lINTTnn STATES PATENT EDWARD F. BRAUCHER, OF MEYERSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

DUM PING-VVHEELBARROMV.y

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters 'Patent No. 719,428, datedFebruary 3, 1903. Application filed November 6, 1902. Serial No.130,295. (No model To @ZZ whom it may con/cerro.-

Be it known that 1, EDWARD F. BRAUCHER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Meyersdale, in the county of Somerset and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDumping-Wheelbarrows; and I do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in, the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to du mping-wheelbarrows, and more particularly tothat class of wheelbarrows in which the bottom of the body or hopper iscomposed of hinged sections which maybe dropped at the pleasure of theoperator in order to discharge its contents.

The object of my invention is to provide a wheelbarrow of this characterwhich may be readily discharged of its contents by simply operating ahand lever, to provide means for restoring the hinged sections of thebottom to their normal position after the discharge has been effected,and, further, to provide means for regulating the size of the openingbetween the hinged section of the bottom of the hopper in order tocontrol the discharge.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction and combination of parts, which will behereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimproved wheelbarrow. Fig. 2 is a front end elevation with the bottom ofthe body or hopper in its normal position. Fig. 3 is a similar view withthe bottom of the body lowered. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on theline 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5 5 of Fig.1.

In the drawings, 1 denotes the body or hopper of the Wheelbarrow,mounted on the frame 2, consisting of the converging side bars 3 and 4,spaced apart by the front and rear crossbars 5 and 6. The front ends ofthe side bars 3 and 4 are provided with bearings 7 to receive the axleof the wheel 8. The side bars 3 and 4 extend to the rear beyond the bodyand terminate in the handles 9. The frameis supported at the rear uponthe legs 10. The body or hopper 1 is secured in any approved manner uponthe frame and is braced by the strap-iron braces 11.

The bottom of the body or hopper is composed of two sections 12 and 13,which are secured to the longitudinal pivot-rods 14 and 15,respectively. These rods 14 and 15 are journaled in bearings in thecross-bars 5 and G of the frame, their forward ends projecting throughthe cross-bar 5 and provided With crank-arms 1G and 17, the purpose ofwhich will hereinafter appear. By this construction it will be seen thatthe bottom-sections 12 and 13 are hinged or pivoted at their outer endsto swing downwardly and outwardly from the center of the hopper. Inorder to hold the bottom of the body or hopper in its closed or normalposition, l provide sliding latches 18 and 19. 'lhe latch 18 ispivotally secured to one end of a lever 20, pivoted at its center 21 tothe top of the cross-bar 5. To the opposite end of the lever 2O issecured a link 22, which extends rearwardly along the top of the sidebar 4 of the frame and is fastened tothe free end of a lever 23, pivotedat 24 to the top of the side bar 3. The latch 19 is pivotally secured tothe center of lever 23. To the free end of lever 23 is also secured aconnecting rod or link 25, which extends rearwardly to the handle 9,where it is fastened to a pivoted hand-lever 26. lt will be readily seenthat by simply depressing the handlever 26 the latches 18 and 19 will beretracted from engagement with the sections or doors 12 and 13,whereupon they will be allowed to drop and the contents of the body ofthe Wheelbarrow discharged.

l will now describe the device for closing or restoring the bottom ofthe body to its closed or normal position after its contents have beendischarged. Journaled in bearings 27, secured to the front end of thebodyor hopper 1, is a rock-shaft 28, preferably constructed of sectionsof iron pipe and T and L connections. Projecting radially from the shaft28 are arms 29 and 30, which are provided with inwardly-projectingextensions 30 and 3l, to which are pivoted links 32 and 32', to theouter sido of which are fastened the chains 33 and 34. The opposite endsof these chains 33 and 34 are secured, respectively, to the free ends oflevers 35 and 36, which are in turn secured to the ends of thecrank-arms IOC 16 and 17 on the forward ends of the pivoted rods 14 and15. The end of the rock-shaft 28, adjacent to the side bar 4, isprovided with an arm or crank 37, which is adapted to be engaged by oneend of a lever 38, pivoted to the brace 11. To the opposite end of thelever 38 is fastened a link 39, the opposite end of which is secured toone arm of the lever 20. It will be seen that upon operating thehand-lever 26 the shaft 28 will be slightly rocked through the medium ofthe connecting-links, the pivoted lever 38, and the crankarm 37. Thismovement brings an arm or yhook 40,.projecting from the rock-shaft 28,

into vthe path of rotation of a pin or button 41 on the wheel 8. Uponrevolving the wheel 8 by moving the wheelbarrow forward the pin 41 willengage the hook-arm 40 and rock the shaft 28 to a greater extent thanthe depression of the hand-lever 26 would. The rocking of the shaft 28raises the arms 29 and 30, which movement rotates the pivotrods 14 and15 through the medium of the connecting-chains, links, and crank -arms.The rotation of the rods 14 and 15 willswing the doors or sections 12and 13 of the bottom of the hopper to a closed position, and they willbe held closed by the latches 18 and 19. A spring 42, which bearsagainst the one arm of the lever 20, actuates the latches 18 and 19 whenthe hand-lever 26 is released. A coil-spring 43, one end of which issecured to the frame 2 and the other end to one of the arms of the shaft28, is adapted to restore the shaft 28 to its normal position*that is,to the position in which the hook-arm 40 is not in the path of rotationof the pin 41 on the wheel 8.

To regulate the size of the opening between the swinging sections 12 and13, which close the bottom of the body or hopper, I place on each sideof the frame screw-rods 44, the inner ends of which project through theside bars 3 and 4 and bear against wear-plates 45, secured to the underside of the bottom-sections 12 and 13. These wear-plates also serve tostrengthen the said sections. To facilitate the adjustment of these rodsor bolts 44, I provide the outer ends with cranks or handles 46. Byrotating these handles the inner ends of the rods or bolts 44 may bemade to project as far as desired within the frame 2 to'limit the dropor downward swing of the .sections 12 and 13.

sion of the lever 26 also rocks the shaft 28 l sufficiently to bring thehook-arm 40 into the path of rotation of the pin 41 on the wheel 8. Bymoving the wheelbarrow forward when the parts are in this position thepin 41 will raise the arm 40, and hence rock the shaft 28, whichmovement will cause the pivotQrods 14 and 15, to which the sections 12and 13 of the bottom are secured, to be rotated, and hence the bottom ofthe hopper will be closed.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the preferred construction, mode of operation,and the advantages of my invention will be readily understood.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the principle orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a dumping-wheelbarrow, the combination witha frame and hopper, ofpivoted, gravity-opening doors closing the bottom of the hopper, latchesfor holding the doors closed, a lever for retractin g the latches,doorclosing mechanism adapted to be thrown into action by said lever,and a device on the supporting-Wheel of the barrow for operating saiddoor-closing mechanism, substantially as described.

2. A wheelbarrow having a gravity-opening dumping-bottom, a latch forholding the bottom closed, manually-operable mechanism for retractingsaid latch to allow the bottom to open, and means adapted to be throwninto action by said retracting mechanism for auas described.

3. A dumping-wheelbarrow having a gravity-opening dumping-bottom, latchmechanism for holding the bottom in closed position, operating mechanismfor retracting the latch mechanism to allow the bottom to open, andmeans adapted to be operated by the supporting-wheel of the barrow forautomatically closing the bottom,substantially as described.

4. In a dumping-wheelbarrow, the combination of a hopper provided withpivoted gravity-opening doors, pivoted levers at the front and rear ofthe hopper provided with latches for holding the doors closed, anoperatinglever, connections between the same and said pivoted levers formoving the same to retract the latches, and mechanism set in action bythe movement of the wheelbarrow after the dumping of the load forautomatically closing the doors, substantially as described.

5. In a dumpingwheelbarrow, a hopper having a gravity-openingdumping-bottom, in combination with latch mechanism for holding thebottom closed, and allowing it to open, and means set in action by therunning motion of the wheelbarrow for automatically closing said bottom,substantially as described.

IOO

tomatically closing the bottom, substantially IIO 6. In adumping-Wheelbarrow, the combination with a hopper, provided with agravityopening dumping-bottom, of latch mechanism for holding the bottomclosed and permitting it to open, and means adapted to be operated bythe supporting-wheel of the wheelbarrow for closing said bottom,substantially as described.

7. In a Wheelbarrow, the combination with a hopper, having adownwardly-tilting bottom, and means for holding the same closed andallowing it to open, of a rock-shaft provided with a projection,connections between the same and the tilting bottom for closing thelatter when said projection is moved in` one direction and acontact-piece on the supporting-wheel of thebarrow for engaging andoperating said projection, substantially as described.

S. In a wheelbarrow, the combination with a hopper provided with adownwardly-tilting bottom, and means for holding the same closed andallowing it to open, of a rock-shaft, connections between said shaft andthe bottom for automatically closing the latter when the shaft is movedin one direction, a crankarm projecting from said shaft, and acontactpiece on the wheel of the barrow adapted to engage said crank-armfor moving the same and actuating the shaft to close the bottom,substantially as described.

9. In a dumping-Wheelbarrow, the combination with the hopper andsupporting-wheel, the latter provided with a contact-piece, of a tiltingbottom for the hopper, a rock-shaft having two arms, one of which isadapted to be engaged by the contact-piece on the supporting-wheel tomove said rock-shaft in one direction and the other to be operated tothrow the first-named arm into the path of Y movement of saidcontact-piece, connections between the rock-shaft and the bottom,whereby when the contact-arm is moved in one direction, the bottom is closed,and when the bottom drops, said contact-arm is adjusted out of the pathof movement of the contactpiece, an operating-lever, and meanscontrolled by the lever for engaging the other arm of the rock-shaft totilt the same and throw the contact-arm into the path of movement of thecontact-piece on the supportingwheel, substantially as described.

IO. In a dumping-wheelbarrow, the combination with a supporting-wheelprovided with a contact-piece, and a hopper having a dumping-bottomadapted to open by gravity, of latch-levers arranged at front and rearof the hopper and provided with latches to engage said bottom and holdit closed, a link connecting said levers, an operating-lever for movingsaid latch-levers to retract the latches, a rock shaft connected withthe door for swinging the same closed, and provided with two projectingarms, one of which is adapted to be engaged by the contact-piece on thewheel to move said shaft in the direction to close the bottom, and meansadapted to be operated by the operating device for engaging the otherarm of the shaft and moving the rst-named arm into position to beenfraged by said contact-piece, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witmesses.

EDWARD F; BRAUCHER.

